News Release

2017-07-26

Two disgraced former New York state legislators are back in the news: former assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and former state senator Dean Skelos.

The National Institute on Money in State Politics found that the two politicians' parallels do not stop with alleged legal transgressions. During their time in Albany, Silver and Skelos received money from a surprisingly similar set of donors, despite being members of opposing parties. Among their 505 common contributors, those with interests in organized labor were the most generous, followed by donors from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector.